I thought that most teams would understand this from all the history of international players coming out of the draft, and what the full potential of these players are.

Rule: You don't use a top 3 pick on a european player

Here are just a couple of reasons why

- Poor defenders
I'm going to go as far as to say all euro players are poor defenders. From Toni Kukoc to Sasha Danilovic to Slava Medvenko... there has never been a euro player to come out as an "elite defender". The best defenders of all time, as sad as this sounds, are Pau Gasol, a guy notoriously known as being soft when it really mattered, and Vlade Divac, the all time king of flopping.

-Not athletic
I don't know if its genetics or what... but no euro player has ever had a muscular build, or legit athleticism where they were one of the fastest players, or highest jumpers. Although this doesn't take away from a players skill... as there have been many skilled euro players, I truly believe it takes away from a player's ceiling. Most of the time European players either get in their first 2 years... or they don't. I've never seen any of these guys evolve their game and adjust it to the NBA to a strong degree. Most of the time their play is consistent.

- May opt to stay in Europe
This situation with Rubio is not the first time a player disliked the team they were drafted to. There isn't a long history of it... but I'd think it's enough to scare some GMs.

- Rookie contract.... then gone
As in the case of Carlos Delfino, Nenad Kristic... and I'm sure many to follow in the next few years... a player may play his contract obligation as a rookie, and although they are still a restricted FA, may high tail it back to Europe for more money since their stock has likely risen.

IMHO the Top 4-10 picks are fine, but I just think its too risky for a top 3 pick.

You can't just look at any one skill, but the whole package. Look at Pau Gasol, he was able to bring the Lakers to the NBA Finals back-to-back. Last year he was soft, this year he isn't. For a big guy, Gasol is really quite fast. Faster than Dwight Howard in fact, which is why I favor him in their Finals matchup.

Their skills and genetics isn't what makes the move risky. It's the fact that 1)You don't know as much about them compared to the NCAA players, and 2)There is always the chance they go back to Europe as there will almost always be a team that will overpay them if they are half way decent.

Turiaf, Kirilenko, & Deng are not european. You need a geopgraphy lesson.

Gortat is a barely okay defender, but just a good rebounder.. so it disguises his faults... but still not a good one. Kirilenko, Sefolosha, & Batum, are not elite defenders... they get torn apart constantly, and are overrated.

Pietrus is the only exception... he has "good" all-around defense. Solid man-man, solid weakside. So I guess my theory is not 100% fail-proof.

Quote:

Tony Parker ? Pietrus ? Sefolosha ? Rudy Fernandez ?

Sefolosha - Only thing athletic about him is his dunks are OK, but he's not even that good of a dunker... he's not very athletic
Rudy Fernandez - exposed in the dunk contest... not very athletic
Parker - Fast... but otherwise, not very athletic (see: strong, explosive, & vertical)

Pietrus - again, I can be wrong

And as someone already pointed out, none of those guys were a top 3 pick. Most of what I said above is the truth. You've got to be a real gambler to take a euro player with the top 3 pick. Most of the time your fishing for a one dimensional player: offense only.